By Alston Lim • UC Davis 2014

Mark Delucchi, a research scientist for the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies, is featured in an international report for his work, which highlights the potential for existing technologies to deliver rapid de-carbonization in long-term renewable energy sources.

The report, published by the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne, is part of the Post Carbon Pathways project and includes in-depth interviews from top post-carbon economy researchers and policy makers from around the world.

Delucchi is quoted in the new Melbourne report for his findings in an influential article on renewable energy which he co-authored with Mark Jacobson at Stanford University that appeared in an October 2006 issue of Scientific American.

In the article, Delucchi says that using wind, water and solar sources to provide energy to meet projected demand in the long run “is possible and definitely worth looking at in detail.”

Delucchi additionally told the report authors that the change required for rapid de-carbonization is “indeed socially and politically feasible.”

To read the full report, click here

Photo: Mark Delucchi said he believes that switching the global energy system to 100% renewable energy by 2030 will require strong political and policy leadership and regulation. Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

By Alston Lim • UC Davis 2014

ITS-Davis Ph.D. candidate David Friedman has been appointed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration as its new deputy administrator.

Friedman, who passed his Ph.D. exam with a proposal to mathematically model fuel cell stacks and systems, was previously a transportation analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists, where he pushed for stricter fuel economy standards and lower oil consumption.

Friedman played a lead role with ITS-Davis’s first industry-government research consortium on fuel cell vehicle modeling and co-authored 12 technical publications during his graduate studies.

Photo: ITS-Davis director Daniel Sperling (left) and David Friedman prepare to testify on the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment

By Alston Lim • UC Davis 2014

Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director of Energy and Sustainability at UC Davis, testified about international energy trade before the U.S. House subcommittee on Energy and Power on May 7.

In her testimony, Jaffe explained why open trade and global investments in energy is integral to U.S. vital interests, and provided many reasons to how it can “enhance American power and influence by strengthening our ties to important allies and trading partners.”

Jaffe said that energy exports also improve the country’s balance of trade while maintaining the America’s free trade obligations to important neighbors such as Mexico and Canada, as well as more distant long-standing allies such as South Korea.

For Jaffe’s full testimony, click here

April 24, 2013

UC Davis researchers have released the second in a series of periodic progress reports on California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS). “Status Review of California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, Spring 2013” is authored by ITS-Davis research engineer Sonia Yeh, assistant project scientist Julie Witcover, and Transportation Technology and Policy Ph.D. student Jeff Kessler. The work is funded through a California Air Resources Board (ARB) research contract.

Adopted by ARB in 2009, the LCFS requires transportation fuel providers such as oil companies and refiners to gradually reduce the carbon intensity of their fuel by at least 10 percent by 2020. The state began implementing the rule in 2011.

Like the first status review, published in November 2012, this data-rich report provides an update on LCFS compliance and markets, analyzes trends, identifies potential challenges and addresses a special topic. This report’s special topic is issues that affect compliance.

The report finds that fuel providers have been lowering the carbon intensity of fuels used in California. It also finds that, through December 2012, regulated industries accumulated LCFS credits that total about half their compliance obligation in 2013.

The exercise illustrates how the status quo relates to requirements for increased stringency in upcoming years, and is not meant to predict or project how the next few years will play out, the report indicates.

To comply in the future, industry will need to continue reducing the carbon intensity of fuels. Strategies include continued reductions in carbon intensity values of existing biofuels, greater use of low carbon intensity fuels such as liquid and gaseous biofuels made from wastes, new investments in cellulosic biofuels, and increased use of natural gas in trucks and buses, electricity in plug-in cars, and hydrogen in fuel cell vehicles.

To read the full report, visit: http://www.its.ucdavis.edu/?page_id=10063&pub_id=1861

To read the April 30 UC Davis news story, visit: http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10562 

To read a related May 8 editorial in the journal Nature, visit: http://www.nature.com/news/the-cleaner-state-1.12944

Photo: The study found that, of net LCFS credits in 2012, 12% were from natural gas and bio-based gases. Photo credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock

By Jonathan Mao • UC Davis 2014

The UC Davis Policy Institute for Energy, Environment and the Economy hosted three forums in April and May to address the impact of California’s freight sector on air quality and climate change.

• April 19, 11:30 – 1:00 pm : The Role of Freight Transportation in Achieving Clean Air, Climate Goals, Economic Growth and Healthy Communities in California
• April 26, 11:30 – 1:00 pm: Advanced Rail and Truck Technology Development and Deployment
• May 10, 11:30 – 1:00 pm: Planning for Change: How Regions are Planning to Modernize the Freight System in California

California has one of the largest freight industries in the country, and it is expected to grow rapidly in the near future. However, California is also the largest contributor to ozone-causing nitrogen oxide emissions and diesel particulate pollution, and a major contributor to climate change, including emissions of carbon dioxide and black carbon.

Recent incentive programs aimed at lowering emissions within California’s freight industry include AB118, the Carl Moyer program, and the AB32 Scoping Plan. Policy support, however, is not on the same level for low-emission freight transport as it is for light-duty passenger vehicles.

The forum series discussed how new freight transport technologies can help California achieve its clean-air goals by drawing on research that analyzes the ways in which researchers, policymakers, industry stakeholders and other experts can inform better policy.

For more information and to view the forum presentations, click here: http://policyinstitute.ucdavis.edu/?page_id=2319

By Alston Lim • UC Davis 2014

The city of Davis was the site of the first Biciculture Roadshow on April 16-17, a student-run symposium that included a wide variety of events to introduce and educate the public about the culture of bicycling.

The Biciculture Roadshow, which was held at the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame in Davis, gathered activists and scholars from around the nation to talk, ride and share bicycling culture to the community. The event also discussed the topic of bicycle research and activism and how the two intersect with policy, research and recreation.

Natalie Popovich, a Transportation Technology and Policy graduate student at ITS-Davis, and Sarah Rebolloso McCullough, a Ph.D. candidate in the UC Davis Department of Cultural Studies, spoke at the conference.

Popovich discussed her research on electric-bike users in the Davis-Sacramento Region.

McCullough disucussed cultural influences and outcomes of the origins and growth of mountain biking.

“What most excites us about this event is that we found a large number of scholars doing work on bicycling cultures in relative isolation,” said McCullough. “Bringing this community together in one space with advocates provides us the opportunity to jumpstart more comprehensive conversations about the role of culture on bicycling in the past, present and future.”

The free event was co-sponsored by the University of California Transportation Center.

 

For the complete program of events, visit: https://bicicultures.wordpress.com/bicicultures-roadshow/davis-program/

For more information about the Biciculture Roadshow, visit: https://bicicultures.wordpress.com/bicicultures-roadshow/

 

Photo: A student stands in a sea of bicycles commonly found on the UC Davis campus (Gregory Urquiaga, UC Davis)

By Jonathan Mao • UC Davis 2014

Daniel Sperling, director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis, is one of the top energy experts featured in a new energy documentary titled “Switch.”

Sperling assesses the use of electric vehicles, including hybrids and plug-in hybrids. In addition, Sperling discusses the forthcoming transition from older forms of energy to more sustainable forms, and predicts which energy sources will be most prominent during this shift.

A free screening of “Switch” was hosted by the UC Davis Department of Geology on Tuesday, April 23. Scott W. Tinker, one of the film’s producers, introduced the film and answered questions afterwards. Tinker is director of the Bureau of Economic Geology at the University of Texas at Austin.

To view the trailer for “Switch,” visit: http://www.switchenergyproject.com/aboutfilm.php

For more about the film, including screening schedules, visit: http://www.switchenergyproject.com/index.php

 

Photo: A scene in “Switch” where Dan Sperling (left) talks with Scott W. Tinker, the narrator and co-producer of the film

By Alston Lim • UC Davis 2014

The UC Davis Plug-in Hybrid and Electric Vehicle (PHEV) Research Center and its pioneering research in alternative fuel vehicles were the recent focus of a MotorWeek segment as part of the program’s “Clean Cities” series.

The one-minute segment began airing on March 16 on PBS stations nationwide, and highlights the center’s expertise in evaluating consumer behaviors, vehicle technologies, batteries and charging-station needs.

Richard Battersby, director of Fleet Services at UC Davis, applauds the university’s ability to not only do research and make recommendations, but also “practice what we preach” by “setting the example ourselves”.

View the MotorWeek segment at: http://www.motorweek.org/features/green_motoring/clean_cities_success_uc_davis

 

 

 

Two UC Davis transportation and energy experts were among the first thought leaders invited into a new Wall Street Journal online discussion space. The Journal calls The Experts “an exclusive group of industry and thought leaders who will engage in in-depth online discussions of topics.”

On March 26, ITS-Davis director Daniel Sperling was one of the first three people interviewed on video by WSJ Reports editor Charlie Wells. The topic: Can renewables survive oil’s resurgence?

The 40-minute program was a lively discussion among Sperling, Kate Gordon, vice president and director of the Energy & Climate Program at Next Generation, and Todd Myers, environmental director at the Washington Policy Center.

On March 25-27, Amy Myers Jaffe, UC Davis executive director of energy and sustainability, was first to post written remarks at The Experts, with the headlines “An Oil Boom Means Washington—Not Riyadh—Could Become the World’s Swing Oil Producer,” “The ‘Oil Weapon’ Will Lose Potency” and “The Clean-Tech Path Needs a Revamp.”

 The video is not available online. Read some of Jaffe’s remarks: http://stream.wsj.com/story/experts-journal-reports/SS-2-135503/SS-2-196847/

By Alston Lim • UC Davis 2014

Daniel Sperling, the founding director of the Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis, spoke at the UC Davis School of Law Environmental Law Symposium on April 12 on the current and future state of public transportation in California.

Sperling was featured on a panel that focused on the goals and current legal issues relating to SB 375, the landmark 2008 California legislation that integrates the state’s land use, transportation and greenhouse gas emissions policies.

The panel discussed how SB 375 can achieve targeted GHG emission reduction targets and create incentives to reward local governments for sustainable land use and transportation decisions; and how best to measure and forecast compliance with SB 375.

For more information about the symposium, including panel descriptions, visit http://students.law.ucdavis.edu/ELS/2013/index.html

Photo: Riders board a Sacramento Regional Transit District light-rail train in March 2012. Photo by Sylvia Wright, UC Davis